My first meeting travbuddy in Kyoto

It takes only 36 minutes from Nagoya to Kyoto by fastest bullet train, Nozomi. Though Kyoto is not so far from Nagoya, I visited the sights of Kyoto for the first time in 13 years.  Kyoto station has changed very much. What a modern building it is! I met Portia and her husband Kevin at the hotel lobby they stayed.  I had not decided where to go, but they had planned it already. I haven't read my guidebook at all, but Kevin have read a guidebook in English carefully and Portia found and read street signs written in kanji, Chinese character faster than me so actually they guided me around in Kyoto.

We walked toward the Higashi Honganji first. Higashi Honganji is a headquarter of Jodo Shinshu, one of Japan's largest Buddhist sects.

The main hall of it is being renovated.

Next we walked toward Sanjusangen-do. When I saw the 1,001 of Thousand Armed Kannon Statues, the sensation was beyond expression.  We couldn't take pictures of them, because there was 'No Pictures' sign.  Kevin read the explanation wriiten in English so quickly while we took pictures and he explained the things to us. Portia was so familiar with Buddhism and told me the difference of the statues. So I didn't have to read the explanation in Japanese.

We had okonomiyaki, a meat and vegetable pancake for lunch.  We were full, so we walked again toward Kiyomizu-dera. Using the five-storied pagoda of houkanji, 'yasaka no tou' as our landmark to Kiyomizudera. Kiyomizudera stands in the wooden hills, so we climbed a long narrow  slope.

There were so many tourists including students on a school excursion. Kiyomizudera is famous for its vast terrace. The expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu"is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge".There were some tourists in Kimono.  Yes Kyoto is the best place you are wearing Kimono. At Kiyomizudera we noticed tourists dressed in maiko's costume. A photographer took  their pictures.  How beautiful they were!

We got tired a little after waliking for a long time in the warm day and they cared for me about the departure time of my shinkansen back to Nagoya. So we took a bus for the first time on the day.  The bus to Kyoto Station was so crowded.  We had time to talk at Kyoto Station for a short time, so we enjoyed talking.  I really felt it's a great day for me to see the sights with them.